The Details:

The images below were created by a 1st grade boy using the program, Kid Pix Studio Deluxe in 2006. Eventually, when he was an 8th grader in 2014, they were exported out of that program as JPEG files and included in a Google Slideshow to display them in his digital portfolio. The skills that went into the creation of this "book," were numerous.

The Process:

The classroom teacher, Mrs. Brenda Ryan, was doing a unit on pumpkins. She and the students read books, studied pumpkins, and eventually, she began the writing process using Four-Square writing. The students visited the computer lab twice weekly for a half hour computer class at that time. As the students finished their rough drafts (having edited & revised with their Mrs. Ryan) they brought them to the computer lab.

There, as the technology teacher, I helped the students take their rough drafts and transform them into digital works of art, which were eventually "published" by printing them out. The classroom teacher then took the printed pages and collated them into a book.

The Skills:

In the Classroom

Students researched & learned about pumpkins.

Students collaborated with peers and their teacher to write sentences about their pumpkin pictures.

After the sentences were written, they added illustrations.

Student revised, edited, and worked through the writing process.

Students practiced writing descriptive sentences using adjectives.

Students practiced appropriate letter formation & handwriting skills.

Students created, evaluated, thought critically, practiced, and applied their learning.

In the Computer Lab:

Students began a new file/document in Kid Pix Studio Deluxe.

Students drew pictures using the pencil tool.

Students applied their learning and understanding of line thickness, the color palette, the eraser tool, and other digital tools in Kid Pix Studio Deluxe.

Students located keys on the keyboard including letters and basic punctuation.

Students utilized the CAPS LOCK key to capitalize letters.(I introduced Kindergartners & 1st graders to the CAPS LOCK to capitalize letters, and the shift key to 2nd graders.)

Students utilized the backspace key as needed.

With help from teachers, students saved their files to a network drive.

Students opened previously saved files.

Students closed files.

Students launched and exited out of the program.

Students recalled their progress point from week to week as they worked through typing and creating all of their pages.

Throughout the Digital Portfolio Process

With the Pumpkin Book Project & Others:

Students collected documents that were in their grade level folders inside their network drive folder.

Students exported files from specific programs in order for them to be viewed. For example, when possible, students exported drawings or other desktop publishing files as JPEGS. Microsoft Word files became Google Docs by uploading them to Drive. Some files were printed to PDF.

Students copied and pasted files into a new folder entitled, "Digital Portfolio."

Students curated their documents and files...carefully selecting those that they thought should be exhibited in their digital portfolio.

Students discussed and collaborated with each other to evaluate to surmise the purpose of the variety of activities they'd been engaged in over the years.

When appropriate, students contacted former teachers to ask them for more information about their projects.

Students wrote reflections about their digital artifacts.

Students uploaded files from their network folders to their Google Drive.

Students made their Digital Portfolio folder in their Google Drive public on the web.

Students created a Google Site with a page per grade level. (In some cases, students further broke down their organizational schema into subsection of grade levels. For example, they'd have 2 pages per grade level. One housed photographs, and the other housed digital artifacts of learning.)

Students compiled the JPEG's from their pumpkin books into a Google Slideshow.